Mooseadventures Down Under!: Wellington to Taupo

Bus stop near our friends' house, Wellington, NZ

View from our friend's house, Wellington, NZ

Sunset, Wellington, New Zealand

MORE ADVENTURES IN NEW ZEALAND!

Carrying all the stuff.

What we carry each time we move!

Catching the city bus down to the bus stop in Wellington.

LEAVING WELLINGTON

Not long before we left, we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants in the area, Grill Meats. They have great dumplings!

THE BUS

Most of our travel in the North Island of New Zealand was via Intercity.

ARRIVING IN TAUPO

Taupo (Pronounced Toe Paw) is on the edge of Lake Taupo, which formed due to volcanoes!

MACDONALD'S IN AN AIRPLANE?

I'm not sure why this McDonald's is in an airplane.

STAYING WITH A FRIEND AT AN AIRBNB

We had met and stayed with Jen for three days while in Adelaide, Australia, around Christmas time. We planned to meet up with her again in Lake Taupo, where she was looking after an Airbnb, and help her out.

SWAMPY CLIMATE!

The plants in Taupo were so unique, and I felt like I was in a swamp! Turns out, I was right! Khevron spent a lot of time cleaning the long, long driveway and also blowing the leaves off the many, many pathways through the forest around their house.

The Lake Taupo area features extensive, protected lacustrine wetlands (marshes, bogs, and swamp forests) directly along its shorelines, while the wider catchment is classified as a Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forest biome. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The marshy, waterlogged feel of the area comes from a fascinating mix of volcanic geography, specific wetlands, and human history: [1]

The South Taupo Wetland: The southern edge of the lake features a massive, diverse wetland reserve that is home to marsh-loving native plants like flax, sedges, and ferns. [1, 2]
Swamp Forests: In fertile, flood-prone areas near the lake and its inflowing rivers, you will find Kahikatea (native white pine) swamp forests that thrive in matted, waterlogged soils. [1]
Volcanic Geology: The lake itself is a massive volcanic caldera surrounded by pumice terraces. Because pumice is highly porous, water behaves strangely around it—acting like a sponge in some areas and creating swampy, boggy microclimates in others. [1, 2]
Tussock & Scrubland: The wider landscape around the lake has a marshy, open feel not just from water, but from centuries of historic fires that replaced the original dense forests with hardy, low-lying scrubland and tussock grass. [1, 2, 3]

(GoogleAI)

SUNSET AT JOLLY GOODFELLOWS

We picked a restaurant that looked both fun and also faced the ocean for good sunset pictures (such as Khevron loves to take). And we settled on Jolly Goodfellows, which was a pub. We went there with Jen.